Training and Continuing Education Opportunities

Online Training

This 4-week 12 CE course is designed to provide public library staff with the foundation (or a refresher) of health and wellness reference, programming, and outreach for their communities. Each week will involve some reading, discussions with your classmates, and a short (2-pages or less!) assignment.

This webinar focuses on seniors and their use and access to Quality Health Information. Resources from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and NLM’s MedlinePlus will be highlighted. NIA offers a variety of health information for seniors including exercise and physical activity campaigns such as Go4Life and Fit4Function, and resources such as the Talking with Your Doctor Toolkit. MedlinePlus has various resources of seniors.

This class is designed to assist librarians and others who work with diverse populations in locating health information. The resources presented are selected for their emphasis on providing culturally relevant information in the preferred language of the population. Background information on refugees and immigrants in the U.S. and their unique health issues will be presented. Participants will have the opportunity to become familiar with the features and scope of several Internet resources. The class will be taught via Moodle and includes short readings, videos, and activities.

The LGBTQ community is an underserved and vulnerable population, often facing misinformation and censorship. Libraries have a unique capability to reach out to this group, providing a safe space to access materials and gather together, as well as provide education to the larger community. This talk will discuss how to develop engaging LGBTQ programming for all ages, gain the support of your administration, locate community partners, promote your programs, deal with media attention, and manage complaints.

With special attention to health justice among communities of color and LGBTQ populations, Juan Carlos will explore how the lack of information, data, and resources directly affects the health, social and economic parity for these communities. You will learn about the importance of understanding local LGBTQ community resources and other non-traditional sources can be the best tool to reduce health disparities.

Carl Antisell from the Minding Your Mind (http://mindingyourmind.org) organization will share the story of his journey through addiction to recovery. Carl will discuss what to look for as warning signs of potential mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression and crisis. Learn to look beyond the stigma associated with mental health, and use strategies with students, friends and family to address signs of difficulty using vocabulary that invites engagement and that shows empathy, care and respect.

This class will teach you the basics of providing consumer health information at your library, from the health reference interview and planning your own health program, to free health resources from the National Library of Medicine and other trustworthy sources.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018
11:00 AM ET – 1:00 PM ET

Location: Online

Cost: Free

On-Demand Training

This 59-minute webinar discusses the history and depth of the opiate problem in the United States, and how it has come to the attention of libraries and their staff. Topics include how library staff members at all levels can recognize the signs and symptoms of opiate users who are either under the influence or in withdrawal; what to do when faced with an overdose patient; the safe and effective use of Narcan (a drug that reverses the effects of opiate overdose); and getting help from social services agencies, substance abuse professionals, and the police.

Public libraries provide a variety of health reference services and public programs to support community health literacy. Health literacy has been described by the Institute of Medicine as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) provides comprehensive health information resources and services to libraries across eight regions nationwide. Join this WebJunction webinar to learn more about the health information resources available through the National Library of Medicine and the NN/LM. Representatives of the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library will discuss their collaborative efforts with public libraries regarding the Affordable Care Act and other popular health information topics. They will be joined by a representative from Santa Ana Public Library, and together share strategies for strengthening your own library’s health information services, to improve the health literacy of your community.

Access to reliable consumer health information is an essential component of individual and community well-being. Because of their unique role and reputation for being open and available to all, public libraries bring valuable assets to supporting local community health efforts. In this WebJunction webinar, participants will explore essential pathways for libraries to address meaningful health information and services. Participants will be introduced to foundational considerations for ensuring ethics and privacy in patron interactions, maintaining health collections at the public library, addressing community health literacy, and supporting healthy communities through partnerships. Participants will also be introduced to resources to advance these topics in their community, and leave the session prepared to join the strong network of public libraries advancing health education nationwide.

The purpose of this web-based training program is to educate health professionals about public health literacy and their role in providing health information and services and promoting public health literacy. The course uses a 508-compliant template, knowledge checks, scenario-based interactions, video clips, and a post-test to engage learners. The course includes an evaluation, glossary, and resource list.

Misinformation about health abounds in today’s info-glutted environment. What is the role of public libraries in addressing issues of accurate health information? Public libraries are uniquely positioned to contribute to healthy communities by providing informed access to reliable health information. This panel presentation provides an overview of the field of public health, highlighting innovative health promotion initiatives at public libraries, and covering training and funding resources for health-related library outreach and programming. Join the conversation about building your community’s health literacy.

Learn the basics of conducting a health information reference interview: identifying the condition that the patron wants to learn about, narrowing to the most relevant information, giving information from more than one source, and clarifying that you retrieved the correct information. Margot Malachowski, Outreach Librarian for Baystate Health, will give you tips on quick-and-dirty searching for impatient patrons. You will learn guidelines for maintaining confidentiality and objectivity at the reference desk. You will learn best uses of MedlinePlus, subscription databases, the Massachusetts Health Connector, “Find a Doctor” websites, and mobile apps in reference work. We will point you toward resources to help you chose print materials for your library.

Come learn ten easy ways librarians can do to increase health literacy. We will talk about approaches from the HHS National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy and also the AHRQ Universal Precautions Toolkit. Caroline Marshall and Michelle Eberle will present easy ways you can contribute to health literacy in a big way.

Interested in health information outreach, but not sure where to start? Learn from four health information outreach projects about whole process of conducting an outreach project – how to plan, apply for funding, identify community partners, foster collaborations, include assessment and evaluation into your project, implement the project, respond to barriers, increase support for the project, and sustain the project.

Learn how to create an effective health information handout. Our Healthy Communities, Community of Interest Leader, Deb Clark, will teach you the basics, using plain language principles and document design. She will also share examples of easy-to-read materials for you to use as models for your own handouts. Learn skills that will help you play a greater role in patient education at your hospital or organization. This is a two-part program. Between October and December, participants will create their own handouts with support from mentors and peers.

To assist public library staff in building their capacity to provide reliable, quality health information, the California State Library, in partnership with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region, has developed a new, online professional development toolkit – Finding Health and Wellness @ the Library: A Consumer Health Toolkit for Library Staff – with a primary focus on prevention and supporting healthy lifestyles. This webinar will introduce users to the Toolkit and provide an orientation to the many multi-dimensional resources it contains, including core competencies, training resources, collection guidelines, programming ideas and promotional materials. The Toolkit is envisioned as a “living” resource that will evolve over time based on what we learn from its practical applications in the field.

Far too often patients are placed at risk for unsafe care because of medical jargon and unclear language. Health literacy is an interactive process requiring that all patients and consumers receive clear communication from all health care providers and systems. This presentation will introduce key principles and components of health literacy and examine some barriers that prevent optimal navigation and use of health information and services.

Using Technology

As the intersection of digital technology and individual health management grows, patrons will turn to libraries to access digital resources and learn how to put technology to work for their health. A recent IMLS study showed that an estimated 37 percent of library computer users (28 million people) explore health and wellness issues, including learning about medical conditions, finding health care providers, and assessing health insurance options. Join the Health Happens in Libraries team to learn how public libraries can leverage their technology infrastructure to better serve the health information needs of patrons. Participants will learn best practices and resources for eHealth technology planning for libraries of all sizes. Participants will also be introduced to strategies for communicating with community partners about their technology resources, and identifying ways to build eHealth services through collaboration.

In the past several years, two major phenomena have dramatically changed the way people find and share information: mobile devices and social media. It is no secret that patrons are using smart phones and mobile devices for much more than making phone calls. For health information, these devices have become pocket medical encyclopedias, fitness coaches, nutrition calculators, medication reminders, and much more. At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will: be aware of the landscape of mobile devices and understand the differences between apps and mobile sites, be able to evaluate and guide patrons to quality health-related content for mobile devices, be familiar with the benefits and caveats of social networking for health information, and be able to incorporate knowledge of technology and electronic resources into services for patrons.

Research is showing that more and more of the American public is becoming regular users of social media. Public health departments and agencies across the country have begun to experiment using social media to communicate with an increasingly distracted public. This session will discuss the latest statistics on social media use, how public health departments are using it, will identify some best practices currently in use, and how best to get started integrating social media into your work.

Special Groups

Parents and caregivers need current, relevant information to help with early childhood matters such as handling illnesses and injuries, developing healthy habits such as potty training, and providing a safe and nurturing environment for babies to grow into toddlers and beyond. Popular books, websites, and other resources offering opinions and advice are a dime a dozen, but which are accurate and authoritative? Knowing the answer to that question will make the library a trusted resource for help and accurate information.

Injured war veterans have always been a part of U.S. history, but the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in a significant increase of debilitating injuries. Returning veterans face many health issues, from physical injuries to mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse and suicide. Women returning from deployment face additional issues, while spouses and family members have unique needs of their own. This webinar will provide an overview of the most pressing issues faced by returning veterans and their loved ones and what libraries can do to help.

Specializations and Certifications

The Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) will help you keep current in the consumer health information field and obtain an additional, recognized level of expertise. CHIS can help advance the careers of: medical librarians, public librarians, librarians working in consumer health libraries, and allied health professionals. You have three years to gather the contact hours needed, ending with the date you submit your materials. The specialization is valid for three years and may be renewed.